Delayed Treatment of Retroclival Meningioma in a 70-year-old Female.

We report a case of a 70-year-old female who presented with a four-year history of progressive headaches in the occipital area. MRI revealed a right inferior clival meningioma. Treatment was delayed for over a year due to multiple referrals resulting in the development of new symptoms including decreased balance, generalized weakness, and difficulty swallowing.

Transition to practice in radiation oncology: Mind the gap.

Introduction: Physicians entering independent practice often express apprehension in managing the non-clinical aspects of practice. This study examined the perceived preparedness of radiation oncology (RO) residents for independent practice, identified education gaps, and discussed how these deficiencies could be addressed.

Materials And Methods: Focus groups with senior RO residents, fellows, new-to-practice radiation oncologists (ROs), and residency program directors were conducted.

Attitudes Towards Research During Residency Training: a Survey of Canadian Radiation Oncology Residents and Program Directors.

Radiation oncologists require clinical appraisal and research methodology skills, yet it is unclear how to develop these competencies during residency. We sought to attain a deeper understanding of the barriers that limit, as well as the factors that promote, engaging in research/scholarly activity during radiation oncology residency training in Canada. Following ethics approval, online surveys were circulated to all Canadian Radiation Oncology program directors and residents.

Transition to practice: creation of a transitional rotation for radiation oncology.

Background: Implementation of Competence by Design (CBD) will require residency training programs to develop formalized "Transition to Practice" (TTP) experiences. A multidisciplinary group of Radiation Oncology stakeholders from tertiary care centres in Atlantic Canada were surveyed regarding a proposed TTP rotation.

Methods: The survey asked participants to quantitatively rank various learning objectives based on defined CanMEDS skills that are expected to be mastered by a graduating resident.

Describing a Process for Creating a Patient Visible Quality Educational Display to Increase Patient Engagement in Radiation Oncology Throughout the Canadian Maritimes Provinces.

Here, we report the process for creating a patient visible quality educational display to highlight the collaborative quality working practices of Radiation Oncology clinicians and staff in the main Radiotherapy Centers throughout three Canadian provinces. These processes are often not visible to patients yet they speak directly to the standards of care delivered at these centers. The Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) Quality Assurance Guidelines for Canadian Radiation Treatment Programs guided this process.

Radiation therapy quality indicators for invasive breast cancer.

Background And Purpose: Radiation therapy (RT) for breast cancer has evolved considerably over the past two decades. A concise list of optimal care indexes is lacking. The purpose of this project was to generate a suite of quality of care indicators for breast cancer RT.

Use of Protoporphyrin Fluorescence to Determine Clinical Target Volume for Non-melanotic Skin Cancers Treated with Primary Radiotherapy.

Purpose: Non-melanotic skin cancers remain the most commonly diagnosed cancers. Radiotherapy and surgery are the most common treatment options. Radiotherapy has a recurrence rate of up to 20% for basal or squamous cell cancers.

Assessment and improvement of radiation oncology trainee contouring ability utilizing consensus-based penalty metrics.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to develop and assess the feasibility of utilizing consensus-based penalty metrics for the purpose of critical structure and organ at risk (OAR) contouring quality assurance and improvement.

Methods: A Delphi study was conducted to obtain consensus on contouring penalty metrics to assess trainee-generated OAR contours. Voxel-based penalty metric equations were used to score regions of discordance between trainee and expert contour sets.

Categorizing segmentation quality using a quantitative quality assurance algorithm.

Introduction: Obtaining high levels of contouring consistency is a major limiting step in optimizing the radiotherapeutic ratio. We describe a novel quantitative methodology for the quality assurance (QA) of contour compliance referenced against a community set of contouring experts.

Methods: Two clinical tumour site scenarios (10 lung cases and one prostate case) were used with QA algorithm.

A Phase II trial of arc-based hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy in localized prostate cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate acute and late genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity and biochemical control of hypofractionated, image-guided (fiducial markers or ultrasound guidance), simplified intensity-modulated arc therapy for localized prostate cancer.

Methods And Materials: This Phase II prospective clinical trial for T1a-2cNXM0 prostate cancer enrolled 66 patients who received 63.2 Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks.